Electricity cost has always been brought up - thought this might help.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Lights don't use much power, even incandescent. It's the big appliances like the fridge, water heater, etc

Yes and no. It's a common misconception that you can disregard lights as an insignificant cost.

While appliances are the heavy eaters, yes, lights tend to be the most overlooked "hidden cost" which is usually the easiest to reduce.

At my total monthly cost, my residential electric rate is effectively $.375 per kw/hr. That means that a single 100w lamp, left on 24/7, costs $26.36 per month to operate.

Simply swapping out that incandescent lamp for an equivalent 15w CFL reduces the cost for the same usage to $3.31.

When I lived in cheap energy country, like Texas and the Pacific Northwest, I tended to leave lights on over the house. Now I've learned to turn off the lights I'm not actually using, and reduce the wattage of those lights I do use with fluorescents and LEDs. I even turn off my water heater for days at a time. I've learned that I can get about 3 days of hot water out of only 3 hours of being turned on. It made a serious dent in my monthly bill. In the new house I'm building I'll have solar water heating, plus a tankless "instant on" water heater for backup.

[OpenD]

Here's an excellent energy cost calculator which allows consumers to plug in all their energy uses in their home and estimate the final bill. And you can use it for any location in the country just by plugging in the rates for that place. Home Energy Saver

It also has suggestions on how to reduce your bill.

For the Big Island I suggest you use $.38/kwh for this purpose. The stated Helco rate is lower, but all the added surcharges bump it up.

One more thing... this is for final service to an approved building. If you get temporary drop to a construction mast it's about 1/3 higher. One of my neighbors was on that higher rate for a dozen years because Helco was not able to make the final drop to his service panel for that long due to very old wiring on the poles. Once they upgraded the wires he finally got the permanent drop, but they charged him $382 for the privilege. Only the first drop is free.

Welcome to Hawai'i !!
OpenD

[DuvalGatorGirl]

Originally Posted by OpenD

No, you don't need grass lawns in suburbia. Xeriscaping is the art of landscaping with native plants that don't need supplemental watering. Leeward side should landscape with plants suitable for the dry environment, not rainforest tropicals.

Besides, lawn experts advise against daily waterings. It promotes shallow roots and fosters the growth of moss. Grass lawns should be watered weekly, or bi-weekly max.

i live in ewa where as you know, it's mostly hot and dry. should i water my lawn weekly/bi-weekly? the irrigation is set up to water every morning before sunrise for 5 minutes.

we rent, so we can't do anything to the landscape -- plus the landlord likes her lawn believe me, i'd just take out the grass and put some small rocks in the backyard, lol. i don't want to pay this woman for a new lawn if the grass dies off.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by DuvalGatorGirl

i live in ewa where as you know, it's mostly hot and dry. should i water my lawn weekly/bi-weekly? the irrigation is set up to water every morning before sunrise for 5 minutes.

One of the various items on my long and colorful rap sheet was a year spent as a gardener and "lawn care professional," while I was recovering from a very bad motorcycle accident and could not work in an office. So I can say authoritatively that yes, you'll have a much healthier, more drought resistant lawn if you do weekly or bi-weekly deep soaks instead of daily shallow waterings. The grass develops a deeper, more robust root system that way.

The other common mistake a lot of people make is to mow their lawns too short. Close cropped grass is for putting greens that get daily care by a greenskeeper. Lawns need to be longer. Think lush, not velvet. Longer grass also helps suppress weeds.

OpenD

[DuvalGatorGirl]

thanks for the advice! how many minutes for a deep soak?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by DuvalGatorGirl

thanks for the advice! how many minutes for a deep soak?

Try 15 minutes 2X a week and see how it goes. That's the same amount of water overall, but a much healthier pattern for the grass.

[DuvalGatorGirl]

i figure if i'm paying for the water, i may as well be watering/taking care of the grass properly, right?

i'm surprised with water being such a commodity here, that there aren't watering restrictions. where i'm from, they impose a 2x week at certain hours lawn watering schedule during the summer. a lot of water here could be saved by doing something similar. it makes me wince to see sprinklers going at full blast in the middle of the day.

[nwcountrygal]

Also wash car on lawn if you can,as in the car business and a Pest control company learned the soap washing car is actually good for lawn.